"Blessed is the one who believed”
相信的人是有福的
Luke 1:26-56
9/28/03
Pastor Gee

Introduction

            It is my firm belief that everyone could be in the center of the will of God. Therefore this morning, I really wish to do a little study of the passage with you.  I pray that Mary’s experience will shed some light on the matter: how to live in the center of God’s will.  What does it take for us to discover and put ourselves in the center of God’s will?  From Mary we will learn three elements that are important to that discovery. 

1. A New Message to a New Generation

            Mary’s experience began with a new message from the angel Gabriel.  This announcement actually started a firework in Mary’s life.  Imagine Mary’s life in her time prior to this.  Yes, she was getting engaged to a man named Joseph.  It was exciting enough for her, I believe.  Her life at that point was probably happy, exciting, and full of anticipation for the future.  But none of that was out of the ordinary.  Most women went through marriage.  All was to be expected.  But angel Gabriel’s appearance and announcement were totally out of the ordinary, and listen to that message that Gabriel brought her.  You can imagine the bewilderment Mary must have upon hearing the message. 

            The message was most extraordinary in two aspects; first, it was about the first coming of God’s Son, who was to establish his kingdom to no end.  What a new message to a new generation!  This message surprised the Jews.  They didn’t believe it. How could it be?  God’s son being born into humanity?  No way!  God’s son being born to a virgin?  No way!  God’s son being born into a poor carpenter’s house?  Not a chance! That is the Jewish thinking until today.  I don’t know why, as I examine the records of the Israelites in their interactions with God.  It seems that every message God sent them surprised them.  When God sent the message to Noah to destroy the land in a flood, it was a great surprise.  Nobody believed him, even with a pre-warning of 120 years.  When God allowed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem , to many Israelites at that time, it was a surprised message.  To Jeremiah, it was such a natural and logical outcome.  The sins of the Israelites compelled it.  With hindsight again, we human beings, not only Israel , seem to frequently misjudge God.  We condone sins, and that is why we thought God should condone sins.  We do nothing about injustice, and that is why we thought any actions of God dealing with injustice surprised us.  The messages and actions of God always catch us by surprise, because we are not aligned with His mind and thoughts. I think, the message to Mary was new in that sense.  It was a new message to a new generation, but it was most logical and natural in God’s mind.

Of course, there was another aspect that message was a surprise to Mary.  Personally, God picked her to bear His Son.  That was a great personal surprise.  I figure all this thinking must have gone on in Mary’s mind in a quick second or two.  But Mary adjusted quickly. She responded, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  Please note that Mary didn’t think what the angel said was impossible.  Mary was just asking how it works. 

I believe therein lie the difference between Mary and us, between those who are ready to embark on the center of God’s will and those who are not.  However shocking that message was to Mary, she was ready to embrace God’s new message to a new generation.  She may be puzzled in the beginning; nevertheless, she was ready for it.  In contrast, most of us are not ready for a new message.  Most of us are so conditioned by the traditions of our culture, our church, and our “theology,” that we block out any messages from God that appear to be “new” or novel.  Do we have many false fixed ideas about God, about ourselves, about Christianity?  You bet we do. 

We have this false fixed idea that we are too young to make a difference in the church.  Nobody would listen to us.  Nobody would take us seriously.  But have you tried?  I believe the young people in this church are leading the way. 

            There is another false fixed idea that we can only worship in certain worship style, in a certain structure or flow of worship.    

            We harbor many of these false fixed ideas about God, about ourselves, and they become our stumbling blocks against the new message of God to this generation of ours.  And that is why most of us, even after we have believed in God, fail to embark onto the center of God’s will.  And for the virgin Mary, it is her openness, her readiness to receive a message that was new and novel in her culture, against her religious tradition and against the mind of her generation that really marks her difference from us, and that propelled her into the center of God’s will. 

2.  A New Message Confirmed

            Granted, not all new messages are from God.  We need not believe in all new messages, as if it is new, then it is from God.  No, most new messages are not from God.  Even with the humble, open Mary, she had a tinge of doubt in her mind.  We are just ordinary human beings.  It is ok for us to doubt, but do not shut yourself from a message from God, just because it is new to you.  Mary had doubts, but she was open enough.  She asked, “How can it be?”  It is not a question out of unbelief.  It is more of a question asking for confirmation.  God will proceed to confirm his message for us, as long as we remain open to the truth.  And that was what angel Gabriel did for Mary.  Gabriel here pointed out a way to help Mary to confirm her belief.  He described how the virgin birth is possible with God, and told her about the barren woman, her relative, Elizabeth.  She also had conceived six month prior to Gabriel’s speaking to Mary.  “Hey, Mary, go check it out.  It is happening.  Even the barren Elizabeth is bearing a child because of the word of God.”  Of course, that was tremendous help to Mary to firm up her faith.  As soon as Mary saw Elizabeth , Elizabeth was there to encourage her, to confirm what God had spoken to her, saying, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”  

            Remember Peter? God sent him a message and vision about salvation to the Gentile.  He confirmed it for Peter.  God sent three servants from Cornelius to invite Peter to their home.  In their home, Peter, witnessed the confirmation of God, for the Holy Spirit also came upon the Gentiles while they believed.  So Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."

            There is no need to reject a message just because it is novel.  We just have to ask for confirmation, and patiently wait for it to happen.

3.  A New Message with Power

            Did Mary do anything to make that message to her generation happen?  If you are familiar with the Bible, you know she certainly did not.  She did nothing to make that happen, except for the fact that she submitted herself to be an instrument of it.  The message, if it is truly from God, it will come with power all its own.  As soon as she received, accepted and embraced that message, the rest of it was history.  Jesus came and went.  The church started.  History moved, and we are here today, continued to be impacted by that message, generation after generation.  Mary did not have to strain herself to make that message realize.  The message itself has power, because it is from God. One of the differentiating marks between a man-made message and a message from God is this thing: power. People strain and sweat, push and shuffle, sometimes cheat, manipulate and lie to make their messages happen, because they are from men, but not God’s message.  Sure, we have to make sure that we do our parts and do them well.  In some occasions those parts may require steep sacrifices from us, but nothing should trespass the realm of the morals and beyond our ability.  God will take care of the rest.

            That was what happened to Martin Luther.  When he sounded the message of reform, a new message to a new generation, the message just resonated throughout Europe .  The newly invented printing press carried the message all over Europe .  Martin Luther did nothing to coordinate or organize it.  He did nothing to politicize it.  What power! A message that moves history, and here we are today, continued to be impacted by that message, generation after generation.

            Another example is Rosa Park, a black lady that sparked off the civil right movement of the black in the 50’s and 60’s.  In 1955, on Dec. 1 in Montgomery , Alabama , she refused to go to the back of the bus and was arrested, igniting a civil right movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr.  The rest was history.  Under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Montgomery law was overturned, and its public transit system was legally integrated.  The black and colored people are slowly regaining the respect and dignity given to them by our God.  The dignity of the individual is not to be compromised by our race.  That is an old message renewed to our generation by Rosa Parks, a modest lady who were willing to be an instrument of that message.  She was not a political figure.  According to her biography, she did not plan the bus ride.  She did not even say much during the movement.  The message, however, has power.   It moved mountains and has impacted millions and millions of people in generations in this land.

Conclusions

            I have thought deeply into this question:  How can we walk in the center of God’s will?  It is a profound and deeply needed question that only a few Christian would ask. And I am challenging you to ask that question today. Mary’s experience provides us with three clues.  First, in order to discover His will, we need to anticipate a new message, perhaps, a shocking message for our lives or our generation.  I am not kidding.  I am very certain of that.  I have absolutely no doubt that God does want to do something about our generation, but his plan is almost always a surprise to us.  He is looking for someone who is willing to be his instrument to impact our generation.  Pray for his will, don’t just pray for your job, your health, your well-being. If you truly desire to be in the center of His will, that is what you need to be prepared for.  Second, if you hear that message, be open, believe in it and seek confirmation.  God will not leave you alone.   If the message is from him, he will confirm it.  Third, as you embrace the message, it will resonate with power.  Rejoice in it as Mary did.  For as Elizabeth said to Mary, I want to say to you:  “Blessed is the one who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to him/her by the Lord.”  

© 2003 Pastor Gee

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"Surpassing the Righteousness of the Pharisees"
Isaiah 28:12-13; Matt. 5:17-20
8/31/03
Pastor Gee  

Introduction

In the time of Isaiah, the great prophet, the Israelites were operating in the mindset of legalism.  That was why the prophet Isaiah said to them: to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose"-- but they would not listen. 13 So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there-- so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured.  They have the words of God, but to them these words have become just a bunch of legal jargons.  Do and do, meaning do this and do that.  Rule on rule, meaning don’t do this and don’t do that, and that they add on a lot of rules of don’t.  They thought that is righteousness, spirituality.  Jesus warned us about this type of spirituality, which is not true spirituality: For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  In order for us to advance spiritually, one major hurdle that every Christian needs to cross is this:  surpassing the righteousness of the Pharisees.  This morning, I hope we will learn how to be faithful to the words of God without being legalistic.

1. The righteousness of the Pharisees

            The cry of the prophet Isaiah can really help us in understanding what that “righteousness” is.  Isaiah made it clear what was the problem with his people.  First, they didn’t understand that people were supposed to rest in God’s words.  But they would not listen, so God’s words became a whole bunch of do’s and don’ts, rules on top of rules.  The Pharisees in Jesus’ times had the same problem.  They made hundreds of rules on the Sabbath, so the rules become such a burden to people.  On the Sabbath, the Jews are not supposed to cook, not even opening the refrigerators.  How sad.  Legalism is the so-called “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees.

            Do we Christians make the same mistake as the scribes and Pharisees.  You bet we do.  One area is church traditions.  Some church traditions are good and wise.  We need to respect them.  But some may just be out of date.  The spirit is that structures, programs and rules are there to serve the Lord, to serve the people.  If they no longer fulfill that function, it is time to change. 

            In Isaiah’s warning, the prophet has exposed another dimension of “the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.”  Isaiah said, not only that they added on a lot of unnecessary rules and laws, because they missed the spirit, the way they added them were “a little here, a little there.”  What they had created was a set of fragmented rules and laws.  Isaiah was saying they totally missed the big picture.  Theirs was a set of broken laws, missing the grand purpose of thing.   Therefore, another great flaw of legalism is that it does not have a wholesome understanding of God, his plan and purpose.  Legalism insists so much on the detail that it misses out on the big picture.  The result of such endeavors is what Isaiah said they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured. We are already witnessing a lot of such harms done as a result of modern day legalism in the church.  Few churches today, pastors and ministers alike, have a wholesome understanding of God’s plan and purpose.  Many of them lack kingdom view of the church, and have given themselves to territorialism, vested self-interests, that are dividing the churches today. 

2.  How to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees?

I believe the Bible teaches us three ways to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees. The first way out of such legalism is to seek the spirit of the laws, the spirit of the words of God.  That is exactly what Paul teaches in 2^nd Cor. 3:6.

As we study the Bible, we need to understand that it was written more than two thousand years ago.  There is a huge historical and cultural gap between the Bible and us.  We cannot ignore that.  Therefore, we should not just follow the letter of the bible, but need to understand the principles and spirit behind the teachings of the bible.  One obvious example was Paul’s instruction at the end of his letter, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”  We need to understand that was part of the culture of Paul’s day.  We don’t impose that instruction to people today.  As a matter of fact, it would be foolish to do so.  But the spirit or principle behind that instruction is for believers to greet each other, for us to treasure our brotherhood.  We could express that kind of kinship in a way that is suitable to our culture and our time.

            When we say we want to seek the spirit behind the words of God, we are not saying we are at liberty to ascribe any spiritual meaning to the bible text as we wish.  As a matter of fact, Bible scholars have developed a very systematic and objective way to help us discern the real meaning of the Bible text.  The discipline is called hermeneutics, which is the science of interpreting the Bible.  Therefore, seeking the spirit behind the words of God can be at the same time very objective.

            The second way to help us break out of the “righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” is to gain a wholesome understanding of the words of God.  In other words, we need to have the big picture of what God is saying.  What is his grand plan?  What is his overall purpose for humanity?  We need to understand the bible as a whole.  The words of God should not be fragmented.  His plan and his words should form a systematic whole.  That is why James said (James 2:9-10), For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

            God’s commandments and plan come from his holy nature.  His words were revealed to us gradually according to his vision for humanity.  Therefore, if we want to understand God’s words more accurately, we need to put the words of God in the context of that grand plan. We need to have a stronger, more comprehensive understanding of the Christian worldview.  Only in having the big picture, we could avoid misinterpreting the spirit of God’s words.  Therefore, having a correct Christian worldview is a must in avoiding the trap of legalism.

             As we seek to capture the spirit of the words of God and having a big picture, or a correct Christian worldview, another thing we need is wisdom to apply them into our lives. We live in a world that changes everyday.  Sciences, technologies, economies, world trade, and international politics are advancing in a rapid pace everyday.  For sure, this is not the type of environment in which the bible was written.  However, the principles extracted from the bible are timeless, and can be used even today to guide our lives.  We need only to understand them accurately, apply them sensibly. To do all that really takes wisdom.  In the book of Mark 12:28-34, a scribe came to ask Jesus which is the greatest commandment.  Jesus told him to love God and man.  The scribe heard it and answered, “…To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God.  Jesus said the scribe answered with wisdom.  The scribes applied Jesus’ words wisely that loving God and man is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.  This was not easy for the scribes, if you understand how important those sacrifices and offerings were in their lives.  It took wisdom and courage for the scribes to see it and say it.  It is only with wisdom that the scribe could breakthrough such heavy tradition.  Today, my observation is that the church, brothers and sisters, have largely abandoned this concept of wisdom.  We want black and white answers from the Bible to solve our daily problems.  But black and white answers there are only very few.  There are timeless principles, but in order to apply them correctly and sensibly, and not fall into the “righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees”, we need to sharpen our discernment.  We need wisdom.

3.  The Christian Worldview

            Here I want to spend a little bit more time on the Christian worldview.  What is a comprehensive Christian worldview?  According to many bible scholars, a good comprehensive Christian worldview must have these dimensions: Creation, the image of God, the Fall of humanity, institutional and cultural sins, redemption and the consummation of the Kingdom of God .

I think many Christian know about these aspects of the Christian faith.  Otherwise they would not call themselves Christians.  The point I want to make here is that we need to seek a more accurate, and a more integrative understanding of all these dimensions.  All these dimensions actually come together and form God’s vision for humanity.  In Gen. 1:26-28 actually spells out God’s plan for the human race, for which he has never given up, despite our fall. 

            God’s intention is to have the whole creation reflect his glory, not just Israel , or the Chinese, or the American.  The Jews in their parochialism, they thought they are the only people God cares about.  They have a great flaw in their worldview.  We Christians sometimes make the same mistake.  It is so easy to be concerned only about our own people, people who are like us.  Not many churches have an aggressive program for mission because of their faulty Christian worldview.  Not many individual Christians care about mission also because of that.

            In the Christian community, we easily succumb to the idea that God only reigns in the church.  There are Christians, churches and seminaries who hold up a strong boundary between the secular and the sacred.  If we have a correct Christian world view, we would understand God is also God of the secular world, despite their rebellion against him.  God’s hand is also in secular history.  It is his desire to have the entire world restored to his glory.  He charged the Christian to be a sensible manager of the entire earth, to help bring his glory to every corner, not just physically, but intellectually, spiritually.  In this sense, we need good missionaries to go the end of the earth.  We also need good Christian doctors, engineers, scientists, writers, actors, good Christian people, in all sort of disciplines, in all sorts of areas to help bring glory to God.  That is if we understand our Christian worldview more accurately and comprehensively.  But no, the church’s traditional understanding of its mission has been so narrowly confined to the Great commission.  We lost the big picture.  We lost God’s vision for humanity. 

© 2003 Pastor Gee

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Several years ago Hollywood came out with a movie called "Face Off." The twist of the movie was that hero and villain exchange identities by literally swapping faces in science-fiction plastic surgery. So people don’t know who the real cop was and who the real bad guy was. By some super-high-tech plastic surgery, their faces totally swapped. But no matter which faces the villain put on, inside him, the heart was still the same. The bad guy was still the bad guy, and the good guy was still the good guy. However, it confuses people a whole lot, and their families were totally off-put.

As I watched that movie, I said to myself: Hey, isn’t that real life? Actually we have the same problems in real life. We all like to put on a front that is good and pleasing to others, that doesn’t really match the inside. Not only it confuses the people around us, it also confuses our own selves. Soon we deceive our own selves that we are as good as the front we put on. Very often Christians are even more prone to do this.

This is real life Face/Off. Who are the real Christians? In the time of Jesus, this was a massive problem for his people. Because of the religious front people put on, His people no longer know who the true followers of God are. They don’t even know what it means to be true followers of God. I believe the church today face a similar problem. The church is facing a serious problem of integrity. More serious than you and I think. Dr. Samuel Ling said 50% of the church goers today are not true Christians. I tell you, I am less optimistic. I think the percentage is higher. People thought just by intellectually acknowledging Christ as Lord and Savior make you a Christian. Jesus didn’t think so. In studying Jesus’ words and statements, I detected there are three areas of our lives that Jesus thinks are vital to our identity as true Christians. True Christians will bear fruits in three areas of our lives. Let’s us look at each of them this morning.

1. True Christians walk humbly with God (Mat 23:1-3) I think the integrity of the people of God has always been a problem, from OT times to NT times and today. In our passage, Jesus told this story about the two sons. One said yes to the father in words, but no in deed. The other said no to the father in words, but later repented and did what the father asked in deed. It is so much like what is happening in the Face/Off movie. Their deeds really did not match their faces. Jesus asked, "Which of the two did the will of the Father?" He is asking in today’s words, which one is the real Christian? The answer is obvious, the one who repented and did what the father asked. Here Jesus uses our deed to measure our integrity. We must walk our talk. In Prophet Micah’s words, we must walk humbly with our God.

The Israelites were not walking with God, particularly those who claim to be most familiar with the commandments of God, the religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus was ruthless in tearing off their face and exposing the true conditions of their heart. In Matt. 23:1-3, Jesus chided them, "Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them." They say things and do not do them. That is their chief sin. Jesus was not saying they tried hard and failed. They simply do not do them, period. They do not expect to do them. There is no integrity in their belief.

What marks a Christian life with integrity? Another thing the Prophet Micah and Jesus both agreed on is the love of mercy. In fact Jesus said this in Mark: "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions." Forgiveness is an ultimate sign of mercy. Jesus here uses forgiveness to measure our integrity as a Christian, because if we don’t forgive, our Father in heaven will not forgive us. That means we cannot be a Christian, if we don’t forgive. We cannot expect our Father in heaven to forgive all our sins, if we hold gripes against someone.

Our heavenly father loves mercy. That is why in our text, "Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you." Why can the tax collectors and prostitutes get into the kingdom? Apparently, it is not because of something they have done. Every body knew at that time tax collectors and prostitutes were no good. They got into heaven simply because of the grace of God. They accepted that grace, and they got in. As simple as that. We get into the kingdom the same way, because of God’s mercy, God’s grace, not because of anything we did and earn. We become children of God simply because we accepted what Jesus did for us.

Sometimes I wonder why Jesus made forgiveness a measure of our Christian integrity. Why wouldn’t God forgive us because we don’t forgive others? The key to understand that is also this thing: "forgiveness is entirely out of mercy, or grace." There is nothing the party being forgiven can do to earn that forgiveness. That is how we are forgiven by God. If we don’t forgive, after we have received forgiveness from God. It means that we fail to appreciate what God has done for us. Christians who don’t forgive do not understand the grace that God has freely given us.

Another reason why Jesus makes forgiveness an integrity issue is this: Christians who don’t forgive ultimately will become self-righteous. The Pharisees were such kind of people. They thought they deserved God’s forgiveness. They are deceiving themselves.

Another reason why Jesus insists on our forgiving others is for our own healing. Modern psychologists support this. Only in letting go of our hatred, of our anger can we be healed as a person.

Yes, forgiveness is the only way to heal. Jesus knows that. Christians who don’t forgive is hardened, self-deceiving and self-righteous. Christians who don’t forgive totally betray the grace God has given us. That is why forgiveness is an integrity issue for the true Christians.

The two brothers appear to have different faces than their hearts. But people know, the one who did the will of the Father is true people of God. Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 "For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him. Here Jesus brings out another point about God. God cares about everyone. He doesn’t care about the social background or status of his people. That is not his concerns. His salvation plan is fair. It is just. Whoever believes in the Gospel will get into the kingdom of heaven, even the tax collectors and the prostitute. I think that bring out the third integrity measure of a Christian: justice. That is what Micah said: He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice…

In another place, Jesus says the same thing. Remember the young ruler Jesus met. He told Jesus that he has kept all the commandments from his youth up. "Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property." This young man has been a follower of God’s commandments from the youth up. But his following lacks integrity. He could overlook the predicament of the poor at his time. He has a lot of property and his belief somehow failed to generate a proper compassion for the poor, for the outcast, for people who are less fortunate than he. Jesus is not saying salvation by work, but he is saying true belief will care about these people

In the years I was searching for a church to serve, this was one area I looked into. There were certain churches I decided I would not go. The church that is very yuppy, only serving the upper-middle class, very comfortable with and complacent about themselves. I purposefully avoided that kind of church. I want to avoid the church that is very inward.

That is why the moment I came to Glory Christian Church, I am pushing for community services in this church. It is not that Pastor Gee wants to do some fancy ministry. The integrity, the genuineness of our faith is at stake. I want to help brothers and sisters to develop a healthy genuine faith.

When Jesus visited his people 2000 years ago, one thing really concerned Him. That was the integrity of their faith. The religious leaders and system of his time were leading a spiritual life that had no integrity. In the search of the Gospel, I believe I have found three things Jesus had attached integrity significance in people’s spiritual life. To avoid their mistakes, may we learn them well this morning. In fact Prophet Micah summarized it well: He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love Mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? In the words of today, I rephrased them: True Christians obey God’s words, to walk humbly with God. True Christians love mercy, being able to forgive other. True Christians do justice, social justice, care about the poor, the unfortunate, the hurt, the wounded and the outcast.

In order for our faces to match our hearts, let us start doing these three things from now on.

© 2003 Pastor Gee

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For the past couple of months, we have been talking about the qualities of the kingdom citizens. We had four sermons already in this series, and this morning we are going into the last and final sermon of the series. This morning we are to cover the third and highest level of the beatitudes: blessed are the peacemakers and the persecuted. This is the highest level, because both beatitudes require sacrifice of the person involved. These two beatitudes also represent the highest ideal of the kingdom citizen.

The peacemakers are those people who work hard, labor for peace among men. They are those who can bring peace to other people.

Jesus says to the disciples in the book of John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." The peace Jesus brings to us is different from the peace of the world. The peace that Jesus brings, is an inner peace, not wrought by power or might, or through the clever use of words, or by ignoring the root problems. The peace that Jesus brings to us is peace with the Father. This peace is wrought by dealing with the root problem of human beings, that is our sin. There are no other religions or philosophies that are capable of giving this kind of peace. For a simple reason, no other religions or philosophies that are effective in dealing with sin. When these people talk about peace, it is not genuine peace.

The peace Jesus brings deals with the root problems of humankind, because it deals with the alienation between God and humans. It deals with our sin that causes our separation from our Maker. Therefore, for a true peacemaker, the first task is to reconcile people to God. Without that there will be no true peace.

But the peace Jesus brings to us is not only a peace with God. It is a peace with God, but more than that, it is also a peace with other people and a peace with yourself. We remember this story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7-30). Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the well in a hot day noon. She came to the well for water at an odd hour. Many bible scholars think that she wanted to avoid people. She came to the well when nobody would. The reason for that, perhaps, was her moral life. She probably was ashamed of herself. The bible said this woman had five husbands, and she was living with someone who was not her husband. Jesus showed her that he is the Savior of the world. Jesus patiently led her to know Him. When she came to know the Messiah, she was very happy. She was so excited that she left her water pot and went into the village to tell the people about the Messiah. Jesus brought her peace with God. Jesus also brought her peace with herself and with the village people. She no longer was self-conscious about herself. She no longer feared the interactions with people. In this example, you can see the root must be peace with God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." The peacemakers, as we can see, are doing what Christ is doing. They try to bring healing to people, evangelize and give counsels. They are the ministers of the Gospel. And Jesus said they shall be called sons of God. That is what Jesus, as Son of God did. He knew the heart of the Father. Jesus, as Son of God, is after the heart of the Father. The Father’s heart is full of compassion for the people. He wants to bring people back to Him. He wants to bring healing to people. The peacemakers are doing all that. Those who do all that are the ones after the Father’s heart. That is why they shall be called sons of God.

But in the Bible, Jesus also made a statement that appears to be contradicting to the concept of peace making. In Matt. 10:34, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." How do these verses measure up against the concept of peace making we talked about in the first point? Aren’t they in conflict?

Very often, we think we can have peace without paying any cost. Often times, we wanted to gain peace compromising the truth. We ought to know, Truth and peace are like brothers. Peace is not true peace without Truth. Therefore, after we reconciled with our God, we should walk like his children. Eph. 5:8-9, "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. " As we have peace with God, that peace also demands that we walk in the truth, that our highest loyalty is to God, or the Truth. Our worldview changed totally.

I remember after I accepted Christ, a strange thing happened. My mom and dad, my best friend, my sister, suddenly no longer were close to me as before. There was something blocking our communication. What I said, my Mom, my Dad, or my best friend no longer understood. That peace that Jesus brings to us suddenly became a sword against my old values, my old circle of people who held those values. When we accept the healing of our Lord, to be reconciled with our God, our world view needs to conform to the Truth. We need to face sin squarely. We will no longer condone wrong doings. Of course, as we are determined to do the right things, we will probably offend our old circle of friends, or our family. It is in this sense that the peace we have with God will become a sword.

A peacemaker is not supposed to make peace just for the sake of peace. He must respect truth and justice. Therefore, a peacemaker must be very familiar with the Truth, and the justice of God. He must also be a person who has a merciful heart. Otherwise he will not have a passion for peace. There you see, a peacemaker must be one who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and one who is merciful. He must have the qualities of the preceding beatitudes. Understanding that you can see why I put peacemaking at the third level of beatitudes. It builds on everything Jesus said before that.

The highest level of the beatitudes is peacemaking and willing to be persecuted for righteousness. At this level, we are willing to love truth and justice more than ourselves. We are willing to sacrifice our interest for Truth. In the history of the martyrs, that is the ultimate message they sent. They loved truth and righteousness more than themselves.

But we need to be careful, some brothers and sisters can easily be confused about this. Many years ago, I was in a church who was attempting to expand their facility. Some council member of the church, in their eagerness to help the church, they thought lying to the bank for a loan was okay. They thought that accomplishing good by doing evil is acceptable. They knew that they sinned by lying. But they thought by sinning themselves, they were sacrificing for the good of the church. Obviously, that is wrong, for Paul clearly instructs that we are not to do evil for good. Therefore, if we sin, it is not counted as being persecuted for righteousness.

In the history of the martyrs, there are so many stories of those who were persecuted for righteousness. Susan Bergman wrote of a story of a small Chinese village girl, just 12 years old, who refused to "trample the cross and live." For this offense, Communist soldiers opened fire as she raised her hands to the sky and sang, in her own language, "Jesus Loves Me."

That is the message given to the world when the five young missionaries gave their lives to the people of Auca in Latin America. They were speared to death by the native people they were trying to reach in 1956. They were: Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming. And this is a picture of the five widows upon hearing the news of their death.

Jim Elliot, the most well known martyr of the five, in his prayer prior to his going to the Auca people. He prayed that God will let him go to South America, to labor with Christ, even unto death. In his diary, he also wrote, "When it comes time to die, make sure all you have to do is die." These people were determined. They knew who they were working for. They knew the meaning of the Truth in their lives. Before they went, they were ready to die for their cause. And God graciously granted their wish.

But the even more amazing thing is the family that they left behind. These widows you saw here later went into the people who killed their husbands, and brought them the news of peace. Peace with God, and peace with man. The Auca people is now a Christian people. The old man Gikita, who was the lead man killing the missionaries, said to Steve Saint, one of the sons, forty years later: "All he wants to do is go to heaven and live peacefully with the five men, (whom they killed), who came to tell him about the Creator God."

O Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The five missionaries were persecuted because of righteousness and their whole families, not being deterred by this setback, are true peacemakers indeed.

We have used five sermons to expound on the beatitudes. I trust that you probably have heard many sermons on the beatitudes. After this series, what do I hope and pray that you will gain from this sermon series? One thing, I hope you begin to understand the importance of the inner qualities of a kingdom citizen. That is the goal of Jesus Christ for us. That is what becoming a Christian is all about. It is not just about some outward behaviors. I hope you begin to seriously look at yourself from the inside, and honestly prepare yourself toward the qualities of a kingdom citizen.

Second thing, I hope you learn that it all begins with being poor in spirit. That is the foundation and beginning of all beatitudes. In this series, we have a very fresh look at the structure of the beatitudes. Jesus structures them into three levels. You can give yourselves an honest assessment, and find where you are in the structure, and start working from there.

© 2003 Pastor Gee

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Moses, the great servant of God, who had led the Israelites out of Egypt, once very candidly entertained this desire. He asked God flatly, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" (Exo. 33:18-23) Of course, God did not grant this wish, for He said, "for no man can see me and live," but God was so kind to let Moses see his back. In the time of Jesus, one of his followers, Phillips, also expressed similar desire, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus was puzzled at this request. Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father '?"

Indeed many of us have this deep longing to see God, to feel his palpable presence. God has given us the Bible; he has given us his words. That doesn’t seem to satisfy us. Deep inside us, we long to cry out, "God, may we see your face?"

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has addressed this yearning of human beings. He told us, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." We are going to expound how a kingdom citizen is to see God. What is the secret? This is a secret that all the saints in the past and in this generation long to know. The secret lies in the purity of our heart. Do you wish to see God? Stop looking for a variety of methods or disciplines; stop chasing masters after masters. The key lies in our heart. Learn to be pure in heart, for Jesus said, "You shall see God."

However, in order for us to understand what Jesus meant by being pure in heart, we need to look at the other two beatitudes: "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" and "blessed are the merciful." The three form structurally as a unit. Structurally, we come to the second tier of the beatitudes, and they are natural progression of the first tier: being poor in spirit, a mourning heart, and a gentle disposition.

If a person is poor in spirit and has the capacity to mourn for his sins, he will naturally hunger and thirst for righteousness. On the other hand, if after we accepted Christ, we don’t hunger and thirst for righteousness, then we can safely assume that there may be something wrong with our being in the first set of the beatitudes. We may not be poor in spirit, or we haven’t developed this capacity to mourn our sins, or we are not gentle enough. This is a natural progression, from the first set of beatitudes into the second. One may still wonder: what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? A simple explanation is this: it is a hunger and thirst for God’s words, for the truth, for justice. Jennifer and myself are good examples of that. Jennifer often shared with brothers and sisters this testimony of her. She said, after she accepted Christ, she wasn’t interested in God’s words immediately. She didn’t hunger and thirst for God’s word right away. According to my observation, what she said is true. It is also true of me. Later on we began to reflect a lot on ourselves. We shared a lot. I told her about my sins, and she told me about hers. As we made progress in the first tier of the beatitudes, both Jennifer and I began to hunger and thirst for God’s words. We began to long for His righteousness. That is why I said there is a natural progression among the beatitudes.

One can easily see if a person hungers and thirsts for righteousness. The person loves these things to the point like he is hungry for food and thirsty for water. He gets to have them. One of the sign is whether he would come to worship God regularly. If he only comes when he has nothing better to do, he doesn’t hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Therefore, to hunger and thirst for righteousness is to hunger and thirst for God, for truth. Any normal obstacles will not be enough to hinder that person to fulfill his desire. But very often, for many of us, we just like the truth. We like to talk about God. We treat God and truth as some ornaments of a house. They are for decoration purpose. It is nice to have them, if not, no big deal. That is the honest state of our desire for God, or for truth. We don’t want to appear unspiritual. But the true test is how much we love God? Are we willing to overcome normal obstacles to satisfy our desire for Him, for truth and for justice? Jesus said for the people who are willing, they will be satisfied. It is so true. As we hunger and thirst for truth, God always acts to fulfill us. Now God often feeds us as we open the Bible. Sometimes, he will lead us to some new truth. Sometimes, he will lead us to have a deeper appreciation of the truth that we already know. Every time, we open the Bible, the experience is fulfilling and sweet. Jennifer and I continue to grow in his words. We know him more and more, and we are able to appreciate his justice, righteousness with ever greater and stronger conviction.

Another quality is being merciful. Being merciful is an outward expression of gentleness. To hunger and thirst for righteousness is an outward expression of a mourning heart. And both have being poor in spirit as foundation. What does it mean to be merciful? Being merciful is to care about the weak, the small, the elderly, the marginal, the outcast, the hurt and the wounded.

As we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will learn more and more about who God is. We will come to see the requirement of the truth is to love others, to care about others. If we say that we know God but do not care about others, this hunger and thirst are fake. Therefore these two beatitudes must be spoken in the same breath. They are together. . Henri Nouwen was one outstanding example of living an upright lives and yet yield to the demand to love others who are weaker than he. Henri Nouwen quitted his professorship at Harvard and Yale and went to serve the retarded in L’arche Community in Toronto. Albert Schweitzer, a brilliant theologian, an accomplished musician, a medical doctor, did the same. He gave up all that to serve as a missionary doctor in Africa. The more we know the righteousness of God, the more we will give to merciful actions for others.

On the other hand being merciful will not do without righteousness. Righteousness without mercy is self-righteousness. It is not God’s righteousness. Mercy without righteousness is unjust. This kind of mercy is harmful to all parties involved. Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." There is another dimension of being merciful. Jesus was saying that everyone needs mercy. The Bible said every one has sinned. Every one needs the mercy of God. No persons can say we will be merciful to others, but we don’t need mercy ourselves.

As we make genuine progress toward the sixth beatitude, the pure in heart, Jesus declares, we shall see God. This is a tremendous declaration. Only the pure in heart could see God. Yeah, we can resonate to that. That is indeed truth. Who could see God, but the pure in heart?

King David knew this question. He puzzled over the same question some 3000 years ago. He said in Psalms 24: 3-6, "Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face-- even Jacob." Therefore, according to King David, the pure in heart are those who have not lifted up his soul to falsehood and have not sworn deceitfully. In another words, those are the ones who have given themselves to the practice of righteousness. Those are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness in beatitude four.

Who are the pure in heart? In the New Testament, Paul also has a word or two to say about that. In 2 Tim. 2:22, "Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." According to Paul, those with a pure heart will pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. Righteousness and faith! Again, those are the persons who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Love and peace! Those are the goal of the people who love mercy. In other words, the pure in heart are the ones Jesus talked about prior to that beatitude. The pure in heart are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The pure in heart are those who are merciful. These two beatitudes are prerequisites to the beatitude of being pure in heart.

And what kind of God is our God? How did he describe himself? In Exodus 34:6-7, "Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." God’s self-description here can be summarized by two words: righteousness and mercy. Now we know why Jesus proclaims that the pure in heart can see God. Righteousness and mercy are the prerequisites of the pure in heart. These are the things that the pure in heart pursue. Of course, they will see God. Only the person who practices righteousness will be able to appreciate an upright person. Only the person who has given to mercy will be able to appreciate the merciful.

Similarly, Jesus is just stating the obvious when he said "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Only those who truly love righteousness and mercy shall come to know and see God.

© 2003 Pastor Gee

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